are you making the most of your pantry? + Pea & Pesto Soup

I grew up on a farm with the closest supermarket a 40 minute drive away. As you can imagine, it was a matter of survival that my Mum kept her huge walk-in pantry well stocked.

So I’ve always understood just how helpful a good pantry can be.

These days, even though I’ve lived in cities for ages, I still keep my pantry at the ready for emergencies. Like when I get caught up with work stuff and need to get a healthy dinner on the table pronto! Or when we’ve been away and I don’t feel like fighting my way through traffic and check-outs.

I do love my pantry. It’s a bit nerdy but I must admit, I feel a little bit of domestic pride every time I look inside my pantry at the rows of jars and things.

How about you?

If you feel like you’re NOT making the most of your pantry, here are 3 steps to help you use your pantry as more of the wonderful support system it can be. Plus a little collection of some of my favourite Stonesoup pantry-based recipes.

3 steps for getting more out of your pantry

1. Collect a selection of great pantry-based recipes. This is the key to getting the most out of your pantry. I’ve included a list below to get you started.

Don’t feel limited to just the dry goods or store cupboard. I consider any ingredient that will keep for more than a few months as a ‘pantry’ ingredient. So I include things like parmesan, tofu and halloumi which all keep in the fridge. Or frozen vegetables.

2. Shop. Go shopping for the ingredients for 2-3 (or more) of your favourite recipes from your collection above. The thing with pantries is they only help you if they contain ingredients that can go together to make a meal.

3. Relax. Next time you need a quick, emergency meal, instead of resorting to pizza, just head home and have some fun whipping up one of your delicious pantry dinners.